Chapter 248: An Ordinary Nineteen‑Year‑Old

"People, one cannot know too much……"

Jiang Yunchu let out a soft sigh; mainly, the shock Ze gave her was simply too great.

Before, she would have dismissed talk of hair turning white overnight as a joke, but today everything happened right before her eyes; she watched as her ink‑black long hair turned snow‑white inch by inch.

"Master?" Bai Zhi looked at the master walking out of the room and asked with some concern.

Jiang Yunchu shook her head. "I'm fine, just resting."

"Okay." Bai Zhi heard the master's words, but her tense heart did not relax.

Today the master was truly abnormal, completely unlike before; her heart had been clenched all along.

"Mother!" At that moment, a clear voice full of laughter rang out.

"Yue Yue?"

Jiang Yunchu saw her daughter's appearance; after a year and with physical training, the baby fat was still there but she had become much slimmer, and her height had increased a lot.

At this moment her face was all smiles, her big eyes blinking, as if they held starlight inside.

"Mother! I miss you."

The lovely little girl ran over quickly, though she had already learned to slow down, then she embraced Jiang Yunchu's waist, saying, "Mother, Yue Yue misses you."

Jiang Yunchu let out a "pfft" laugh, then rubbed her soft hair, asking, "What's going on today? Didn't you stop coming home after you went to preschool?"

"You came back so late—were you being naughty? Did Teacher Yun Hui scold you?"

Seeing the girl lift her head, she gently tapped Yue Yue's little nose.

Yue Yue pouted. "Not at all!"

"Mother, Mr. Yun Hui said Yue Yue is the most obedient, most obedient child."

"Yue Yue would never be naughty!"

"Only that rascal Zhidong is naughty."

Thinking of that rascal, who secretly pulled the butterfly from her hair bun, her eyes widened and her little mouth pouted so much it could hang a soy sauce bottle.

"What's going on? Is there still someone who can provoke our Yue Yue?"

No matter how huge the matter in her heart, when she sees the child, her inner self fills with peace and warmth, as if everything were trivial and everything had a solution.

As long as……

The children are here, the elders are here, the people I care about are here—that's enough.

"Mother, Yue Yue can't walk." Just as Jiang Yunchu was about to walk forward, Yue Yue suddenly squatted down, her little face scrunched up.

Jiang Yunchu smiled and could only stop her steps.

"You little lass, can't walk—Mother will carry you."

But just as Jiang Yunchu was about to squat, Yue Yue quickly shook her head, "Mother, Yue Yue is already big; she can't let Mother carry her anymore, although Yue Yue does love being carried by Mother."

"Mother's embrace is warm and carries a pleasant fragrance."

"But Yue Yue has grown up—alas, she can't let Mother hold her anymore!"

The little girl wore a look of regretful loss; this adult emotion on a child seemed somewhat silly and funny.

"It's fine, Yue Yue doesn't need to worry; Mother has the strength and can carry her."

Jiang Yunchu squatted down, intending to pick up the little girl, when the girl's face flashed with an anxious expression.

"What's wrong?"

She felt a bit puzzled; this little girl was really off today.

Although she went to preschool, they still ate lunch together every day, so the distance hadn't widened.

The two toddlers' minds are still immature; regarding the selection of teachers for preschool, she was especially careful, each instructor meticulously chosen, and since Yun Hui accompanied every class, it was impossible for anyone to impart nonsense.

She slowly dismissed many thoughts, yet she still couldn't figure out what was wrong with the little girl today.

Just then, a call came from afar: "Yue Yue."

"Hey! I'm coming."

Just moments ago the little girl still had a worried frown, but suddenly her vitality returned, and that innocent smile reappeared on her face.

No!

It's faster than Sichuan opera face‑changing, isn't it?

Jiang Yunchu couldn't help but complain in her heart.

"Mother, let's go, we're entering the courtyard." The little girl now wore a grin, a mysterious look, pulling Jiang Yunchu's hand, her eyes smiling like a crescent moon.

Jiang Yunchu looked into the courtyard—pitch black, nothing discernible—and then at Yue Yue; the little girl's gaze was evasive, and she simply wouldn't speak.

She just let it be; who knows what the children have prepared?

As she stepped into the courtyard step by step, she heard Ning Hanmo shout, "One."

Suddenly, she felt movement all around her.

Then she saw red lanterns encircling her, which at times turned into flower shapes, at times into star shapes, and at times into heart shapes.

These were the shapes she had taught them.

She gazed silently, the corners of her mouth lifting into a perfect arc, her eyes seemingly filled with tenderness, as she looked at the familiar faces before her: the children, Jiang Yun Hui, Zi Su, Bai Zhi, Su Xin, and Zi Wu.

Plus the single‑ear guard squad, the shadow squad, and……

Ningguang and company, with Kang Meng the master and Qing Feng the great scholar, each familiar smiling face, each familiar person, held a red lantern in hand.

"You all……"

Just as she was about to speak, she was suddenly cut off because she heard her own voice trembling.

"Mother, happy birthday."

Just then, Ning Hanmo walked out from the side, holding a pastry; the pastry was a bit ugly, and the characters on it were also crooked.

But she could tell at a glance: "Happy birthday!"

Birthday?

Is today her birthday?

She closed her eyes. May 15th, her modern birthday; unexpectedly, the original owner's birthday actually falls on the same day.

But it's still different; in modern times, this day is no different from any other, because no one remembers it—not even she herself, who instinctively forgets.

Because the people who gave birth to her threw her at the orphanage gate, leaving her to fend for herself.

But here, in Da Ning, in Jingdu, she saw a circle of caring people waiting for her, to give her a surprise, to celebrate her birthday.

An ordinary nineteenth birthday.

「Mom? Blow out the candles? Didn't you say that? Make a wish, and it will come true. 」

Yue Yue tugged at her mother's hem, lifting her little face to remind her.

These are what Mom told her and her brother last year; now it's finally their turn to do something for Mom.

「Okay, make a wish. 」

Jiang Yunchu pinched Yue Yue's little cheek, looking at every face filled with blessings and smiles, she slowly closed her eyes.

「I hope Da Ning has good weather and timely rain. 」

「I hope the children grow up healthy and get what they wish for. 」

After making her wish, she opened her eyes, then blew out the candle.